Air Vent Control Not Working

[Taxbert]

I have a 2008 Saturn Vue. The air flow vent control is not working. The A/C works and the blower motor is working. The air is coming out by the feet, the side vents and a little out the front vents. But when I turn the dial (i.e. defroster, front vent, etc.) nothing happens. How does the vent control knob control the vents? Is it vacuum or electrical? Any thoughts on what could be wrong?

[leogag1]

Originally Posted by Taxbert

I have a 2008 Saturn Vue. The air flow vent control is not working. The A/C works and the blower motor is working. The air is coming out by the feet, the side vents and a little out the front vents. But when I turn the dial (i.e. defroster, front vent, etc.) nothing happens. How does the vent control knob control the vents? Is it vacuum or electrical? Any thoughts on what could be wrong?

It is electrical. If I were you, I'd check the cables and plugs. Maybe it's simply unplugged.

[smailmanstn]

I had a similar (if not the same) problem with my "08 XE, a little over a year ago. Under warranty, my local Saturn dealer replaced some switch or relay in the control panel.

As I recall, the A/C would only go through the floor vents, and the defrost position pushed through the front dash panel vents, as if the control switch were miswired. But i knew that wasn't the case, because the problem DEVELOPED: the controls worked correctly up to that point.

I had the impression that this was not an unknown problem. The dealership fixed it in a couple of hours (I belive a computer reset was involved). Mine has been working perfectly since. Hope this helps.

[Raptorstwo]

Progress report.

Finally found time to work of the switch. It was much simple that I expected.

1. Remove BEZEL. Place fingers in the 2 air vents above the radio. Give it a good sharp SHORT pull.
Short because bezel is held in place by spirng clips:
2 on top, 3 on each side, 2 at bottom. Work your way down both sides releasing clips on each side.
Note Of Caution: I don't know what kind of plastic the bezel is made of but I suspect it may be brittle when cold. You may need to warm it up if the car is very cold.

This exposes the Radio and the Heater Controls. Each are held in place by one screw of each side.

Use nut driver or socket to remove radio. (Disconnect the wiring harness at the blue connector plug, not the wide narrow grey one.)

This exposed the heater/ac controls.

I did not have to remove the heater control unit. My problem was the plastic gears at the Flow Control Switch. I was able to just turn the horizontal gear by hand which got it back into its proper position.
Swith turns like new.

Hope this works for you. Please let me know if you got this message. Good luck.

Richard.
This works. I did what Richard posted. I want to tell everyone. I've been years without after spending $600 to mechanics who couldn't fix it. Thank you Richard.

[brwct08]

Well I just started having the same problem. AC is blowing at feet very strong and lightly up top. I can't change it. 2008 VUE XR. I tried removing the battery for rest and it did nothing. I read online that it could be the actuator under steering column. Any help?

[russellgs1]

I just started having the similar problem as described above. AC is blowing onto the floor strong and lightly through the dash vents. I can't adjust it to any one location. 2008 VUE XE 4 Cyl. Does anyone think this tread and suggestions are relevant to this problem? Any help? Thanks in advance.

[tjhess74]

this topic is my BIGGEST pet peeve with our vue. every single year about this time, our air system does this, or some strange variant thereof. in fact, we just got it back from the shop for this very thing.

four years straight now, the dealer does a reprogram and replaces the control head (the hvac dial knobs). it works great...until the following fall,.

ill take my bezel and radio out and take a gander at what you are talking about. id love for it to be so simple to shove in the dealers face. each year, i rub in the fact that they keep saying 'we finally got it this year'.

on a side note, our symptoms range from no mode control (defrost, vent, floor, etc), no temp control (ALL burning hot or all freezing cold), or both at the same time. the issues can cycle with the on/off cycle of the ignition.

the last time ours was stuck on full heat, we closed the vents, rolled down the windows on a 75 degree day while on the highway, and measured the surface temp of my dash in multiple spots with an ir temp gauge at 117 degrees!

[mbh47720]

try this from someone else on this board
and Save the trip to the dealer
Follow this procedure exactly:
Turn key on - eng not running
Calibrate the mode actuators by simultaneously pushing the A/C and RECIRC buttons on the HVAC control module 3 times each, within 2 seconds of initial push.
1. The A/C and RECIRC button LED's will flash while this calibration is taking place.
2. The calibration will take anywhere between 10 to 30 seconds depending on battery voltage.
3. The LEDs will quit flashing when the calibration is complete.
Cycle the ignition off then back on and verify proper operation

[mbh47720]

this DID NOT work for me sorry

Originally Posted by mbh47720

try this from someone else on this board
and Save the trip to the dealer
Follow this procedure exactly:
Turn key on - eng not running
Calibrate the mode actuators by simultaneously pushing the A/C and RECIRC buttons on the HVAC control module 3 times each, within 2 seconds of initial push.
1. The A/C and RECIRC button LED's will flash while this calibration is taking place.
2. The calibration will take anywhere between 10 to 30 seconds depending on battery voltage.
3. The LEDs will quit flashing when the calibration is complete.
Cycle the ignition off then back on and verify proper operation

[carochio]

Needs to be reprogrammed...

search for post# 2155261

It wont let me post the link at the moment.

[Kartboarder22G]

I had no heat and no vent position control. Took it to a non dealer and he changed the motor acutator for the heat control and reset the limits on it. Now when everything is set to auto I get heat just out of the floor vents mainly. Also when St to manual max heat max blower I only got the car to about 80 degrees in the cabin and that was after a 22 Mile drive and 33 degrees out. What is going on I'm bringing the car back to him soon but he is recommending a heater core flush. That still doesn't fix the vent out the bottom when in automatic mode. Help? Probably should have went to a dealer.

[LKaan]

Hello, I have the same issue. 2008 Saturn Vue XR FWD.

I've pulled the actuator on the passenger side and found that it still moves in both directions when power is supplied. I used a voltage tester to find out if it's getting power from the wires in the harness, it would seem now power is being supplied any longer. I'm not sure what sends the power to the actuators, can't find any fuse that correlates. Could it possibly be one of the BCM fuses? My next option is to try to get the other actuator out for testing and try it on the passenger side. They are identical so they can interchange.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also sorry for possibly hijacking the post, though it's the same vehicle and problem.

[He1]

Raptorstwo
Thank you, I need to replace the three vents above the radio. Is there a vendor that I can purchase with out taking out a loan ? Also can you explain a bit more on the 'Short Pull' ?